Missing Child Issue

The search for a missing Arkansas boy has shifted from searching the local woods and lake towards an abduction scenario. Since it couldn’t be proven that the child was taken, an Amber Alert was not immediately issued. Authorities in the area spent days searching the immediate woods and lake area where the child went missing and after turning up no leads, now believe the child may have been taken from his home.

If Dominick was taken by a stranger, his odds of returning home safely are slim, according to national studies on youth kidnappings. Forty percent of children abducted in "stereotypical kidnappings" are killed, and 4 percent are never found, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report from 2002. Stereotypical kidnappings involve a stranger or slight acquaintance who takes a child with the intent of keeping him, holding him for ransom or killing him.

Time is of the essence in such cases. Among abducted children who are ultimately murdered, 74 percent are dead within three hours of going missing, according to an oft-referenced report from 1997 by the Washington state attorney general.

"When it comes to abductions, to be honest, the first couple of days are absolutely critical," Browne said. "The timeline for recovering kids, it’s a sad kind of timeline."

 

Online Child Safety

Is your child or teenager a frequent social networking site user such as MySpace or Facebook? If so, have you put any rules in order to keep your child safe on those sites? Experts in the area suggest several different tactics to ensure that your child has a safe experience while surfing through social networking sites. The school district in La Crosse, Wisconsin went so far as to offer a course to help parents keep their children safe online.

The La Crosse School District and the Coulee Region Internet Protection Task Force will host a parent presentation Monday at Logan Middle School.

The presentation will cover the latest trends in social networking and help parents better understand safety measures available. The task force also will provide an update on what is happening in the area as well as on other trends.

Sedevie said the task force has worked on three Internet predator cases that started on a social networking site.

“The reality is we live in a technology-centered society, and we are educating our students to use technology in their education,” said Sue Peterson, community outreach coordinator for La Crosse schools.

 

Missing Child Series

Child safety service InstantAmber is currently running a missing children case series on their blog to highlight some of the more well known children who have gone missing over the years. Already profiled are Adam Walsh, Polly Klaas and Amber Hagerman. If you have ever wanted to read more on missing children, this would be a great place to start. From InstantAmber.com:

We will be writing about some of the case stories, which illustrate loss, bravery, and hope.  We at InstantAmber believe that every parent should be as prepared as possible for a missing child emergency.  If the unthinkable occurs, law enforcement has the best possible tool to safely recover the missing child.